Planet Rugby

Preview: Dragons v Glasgow

15th October 2009 15:19

Luke Charteris Dragons

Luke Charteris: Heading Dragons' charge

Chris Cusiter and Graeme Morrison will both return for Glasgow's Heineken Cup clash with the Dragons at Rodney Parade on Friday.

Cusiter is back after a three-week lay-off due to a 'flu bug, while Morrison has recovered from a shin injury sustained the last time the Warriors were in Wales.

"It's been really frustrating to miss the last couple of games, especially with such a big match last weekend at the start of the Heineken Cup campaign," said the scrum-half.

"I'm relieved to be over the worst of the flu and I now need to repay the faith shown by the coaches for putting me straight back in the team.

"We simply have to win on Friday if we are to be serious about progressing through to the knockout stages.

"It's the same situation for the Dragons so I am anticipating a very close game. It's a 'must win' encounter for both sides."

Morrison replaces Rob Dewey at inside centre as the summer signing suffered a broken ankle whilst in action against Biarritz at Firhill last weekend.

In for the other casualty of the close defeat to the French side, DTH van der Merwe, is Scotland Sevens international Colin Shaw.

Meanwhile, Dragons captain Tom Willis has not yet recovered from the calf injury sustained in the match against Ulster whilst Ali McKenzie and Nigel Hall both miss out after picking up hand and shoulder injuries.

Irish international Peter Bracken gets his first start for the region in the front row as does Bedwas loosehead prop Phil Price whilst Gethin Robinson returns from a shoulder injury to take up a place on the bench.

Dragons back row Joe Bearman has been ruled out with a minor hip injury and is replaced by Lewis Evans in the starting XV.

Form: Both sides fell to valiant bonus point defeats last weekend, anything similar here probably spells the death knell for the team's hopes. The teams met in Newport four weeks ago, with the Dragons romping to a 30-19 win, but that was with a full complement of props.

The teams:

Dragons:15 Martyn Thomas, 14 Aled Brew, 13 Tom Riley, 12 Ashley Smith, 11 Will Harries, 10 James Arlidge, 9 Wayne Evans, 8 Lewis Evans, 7 Gavin Thomas, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Luke Charteris (capt), 4 Adam Jones, 3 Peter Bracken, 2 Steve Jones, 1 Phil Price.
Replacements: 16 Duane Goodfield, 17 Hugh Gustafson, 18 Gethin Robinson, 19 Hoani MacDonald, 20 Robert Sidoli, 21 Danny Lee, 22 Richard Fussell, 23 Jason Tovey.

Glasgow:15 Bernardo Stortoni, 14 Colin Shaw, 13 David McCall, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Thom Evans, 10 Dan Parks, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 John Beattie, 7 John Barclay, 6 Richie Vernon, 5 Alastair Kellock (capt), 4 Tim Barker, 3 Moray Low, 2 Dougie Hall, 1 John Welsh.
Replacements: 16 Pat MacArthur, 17 Kevin Tkachuk, 18 Ed Kalman, 19 Dan Turner, 20 Colin Gregor, 21 Hefin O'Hare, 22 Peter Horne, 23 Kelly Brown,

Date: Friday, October 16
Venue: Rodney Parade
Kick-off: 19.30 BST
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees: Cédric Marchat (France), Stéphane Boyer (France)

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